Sophie Driscoll
by aris45321
Summary: Sophie Driscoll was plucked along with her parents from her long-awaited vacation in the Himalayas. She was going to climb Mt. Everest perhaps even set a new record for the youngest climber but that all changed when the Umbrella Corp. decided she's going to be their new lab rat. Her only hope is to escape the clutches of Umbrella Corp. and cling onto D.S.O Agent, Leon S. Kennedy.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

Sophie Driscoll staggered across a long corridor, one of many in the laboratory she was trapped in. Her eyes searched frantically for a hiding spot.

"You should not have tried to escape." A voice spoke, chillingly close.

The fourteen year old girl froze, turning her head slowly. Only a few feet away, at the end of the corridor behind her, the mountainous silhouette of her captor stared intimidatingly through his thick spectacles. He was broad and tall, with sickly pale skin and black hair oiled back against his skull. "Now then, come back with me to your cell obediently and perhaps I will consider making your punishment light." When Sophie made no movement in response to his threat, the Umbrella corp. researcher pulled out a syringe. "One last warning."

Sophie couldn't breathe. Her whole body shook with fear.

"Time's up."

"Wait," Sophie stammered, standing defenselessly with her hands out in front of her. "I'll come back obediently, I'm sorry for trying to escape."

When Sophie finished her stammering apology, her captor smirked smugly. "Yes, that's a good girl."

The huge man continued to smirk as he watched the young girl walk slowly back into his clutches. When she was close enough, he secured his hand around the girl's left elbow. He brought the syringe close to her wrist, preparing to inject the sedative.

"No!" Sophie screeched. The clawing, screeching, basically full out temper tantrum did nothing to distract Sophie's captor from injecting the sedative, only wiping the smirk off and replacing it with an annoyed look.

Sophie felt a surge of adrenaline. _What are you doing, Sophie? This is your owning chance. _Her free hand grabbed her captor's hand, the one holding the syringe, and plunged the needle into her captor's arm. The contents inside the syringe quickly emptied itself. When the grip on her arm loosened, Sophie yanked her arm free and backed up as the huge man fell to his knees.

"When I find you, you'll regret doing this." Her captor growled out.

Shaking still, Sophie didn't know if it was from excitement knowing that she would soon be able to escape or the fact that her captor had just threatened to drag her back. _No. He can't find me. _In the dim light, Sophie noticed a black handgun in a holster, attached to her captor's belt. By now, the Umbrella corp. researcher was laying on his stomach as the world swirled around him. In a swift movement, Sophie reached out and grabbed the gun.

"You'll never find me, I'll make sure of it." Sophie leveled the gun at her captor's head. For once, her voice didn't waver. "This is for what you did to the others. I hope you go to hell." The click of the safety stopping the bullet echoed through the corridor.

The man stared up at his most successful experiment, looking almost amused. Sophie jumbled the gun in her hands. She had never used a gun before and she didn't think it would be this hard to work it. Realizing she must have been wasting precious time in her escape, Sophie darted from her captor.

Joel Martin laid on his stomach, smirking at the naivety of his experiment. "It's a shame that I wasn't able to show you the true extent of the power I gave you." With one hand, Joel pushed himself off the ground, fully recovering from the heavy sedative that was just injected into his veins less than five minutes ago.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Leon S. Kennedy awoke slowly.

A cell phone rang in the distance, slowly it was getting closer. _Where am I? When did I get on a helicopter? _Still groggy, he quickly fumbled for the cell phone in his back pocket. Squinting at the words across the bright screen of his phone, he soon came to realize it was from Hunnigan, his main F.O.S. agent on missions.

Leon clicked 'answer' and leveled his phone to his face. "Hey Hunnigan." He managed to murmur out.

"You took quite some time to answer. I was getting worried." The woman on the other line teased.

"I was just taking a nice nap."

"Sorry to have woken you up, but I wanted to tell you more about your mission before you arrive at your destination point in the Himalayas. It appears that there have been multiple cases of kidnapped victims finding their way back to their villages bearing symptoms of the t-virus. Your job is to find the other kidnapped victims, three of them are American citizens who were planning to climb Mt. Everest. I'll send you their profiles to your phone right now."

Hunnigan signed off after delivering everything she needed to.

Leon was wide awake now. He took the few minutes he had, before he landed, to go over the profiles of the missing people.

Three American citizens - two parents and their fourteen year old daughter, four natives, and a German couple went missing approximately on September 12th, 2012. The four natives and one of the Germans have been found, already infected with the t-virus when they descended from the mountains. They were killed by the natives in fear that they were Ro-langs – Tibetan zombies.

"Mr. Kennedy, we are on final approach to the Himalayas." The pilot of the helicopter smirked back to his passenger, appreciating the little roleplay that was going on between him and his old friend.

"Thanks Robert." Leon smirked back at his friend.

"You better bundle up, it's chilly."

"What I'd give for a mission someplace warm for once." Leon sighed as he looked out his window. All he saw were speckles of dirt, snow, and green.

"Same here, man." Robert replied back.

Five miles away, Sophie collapsed behind a small tree and some shrubbery. Her amber eyes scanned the white and brown mixed terrain. Nothing but…nothing. _Alrighty, enough rest Sophie. You gotta keep running._ Her escape was far from over, she knew it. At any moment, her captor could appear to drag her back to the laboratory where she would experience a daily dosage of injections that'd send her tumbling in pain. The desperate task before her, she knew, would require all the strength she had – physically and mentally. She had to escape. For good.

A river came into view and Sophie was beyond thankful. She recalled all the _Man vs. Wild_ marathons she shared with her father, marathons she would never share with him again. Shaking away both the thoughts of her father and her tears, Sophie bent down and splashed the water onto her face and head. With her fingers, she attempted to comb out the knots in her matted hair. Feeling more refreshed, Sophie continued. _Bear Grylls always said that a downstream river led to civilization._

Less than a mile away, Leon shivered as the rush of coldness reached his warm body. He quickly buttoned his furry leather jacket and donned a wool scarf and earmuffs. "Is a warm, sandy beach too much to ask?" The thought of a nice vacation unfortunately conjured memories of his last so called vacation in the East Slavic Republic which really turned out to be a tough mission. _I need a life…_

Leon flashed to Ada. She had been absent from his dreams for months now that he thought about it. He could not believe it had already been fourteen years since he first met Ada Wong. His last correspondence with that woman was also back during the East Slavic Republic's Civil War, where he was supposed to enjoy a vacation. Leon then began to think about his bachelorhood and all the girls he had liked since high school. _Come on Leon, no dilly-dallying, you're on an important mission to investigate the whereabouts of Sophie Driscoll and her parents, and Katharina Heidlebann and rescue them._

He realized that he must've trekked aimlessly while he was daydreaming about Ada Wong, because he didn't remember a river before him when he got off the helicopter. _Since I'm here, I'll take a drink. Who knows when I'd be able to get water again._ Leon bent down and scooped up some water with one of his hands.

While his guard was dropped, Leon felt two hands grab his neck. They were slender and despite being wrinkly they were strangely overpowering. Almost immediately, Leon was forced onto his knees and his head was dunked into the river. He fought to regain his leverage, but the awkwardness of his kneeling position prevented him from being able to defend himself against his attacker. _Shit! Shouldn't have let your guard down, Leon!_

A gun roared, and Leon was instantly freed from his attacker. He fell forward, his body fully in the water now. Quickly, he found his footing and pulled out his Winged Shooter, aiming at an unpleasant looking woman. To his right was a too young, girl with a handgun, also aimed at the unpleasant looking woman.

"Sophie Driscoll?" When the name left his lips, the girl reacted, ensuring Leon that she was indeed one of the kidnapped victims that he was supposed to find and rescue. Before Leon could sputter out more questions for the girl to answer, the decaying woman that Leon assumed was his earlier attacker, staggered to her feet. She had a bullet hole in her chest, but it didn't bleed nor seem to slow her down at all. Faster than any t-virus infected ex-human Leon has ever encountered, she dove in a snarling mess towards the girl. "Move Sophie!" Leon fired his gun and hit dead on with the decaying woman's head. The zombie liquefied into a pile of muck.

"Are you alright?" Asked Leon.

"Yeah, are you?" The girl asked back.

Leon dwelled on the girl's question. Was he alright? He had just gotten out of the river and was dripping wet from head to toe. The moisture on his clothes was also beginning to freeze due to the Himalayan temperature.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Leon bit out a response. That was probably the worst lie he's ever told.

Sophie resisted the urge to make a facial expression when the shivering man in front of her told one of the worst lies she's ever heard. The fear of being alone sent Sophie in a panic. The man was freezing literally. She had to help him. _When you don't have matches, you can start a fire with flint and steel. Flint is usually found near water, it is a smooth, dark stone._ Sophie was recalling _Man vs. Wild_ again. She stared down at the gun that was clutching firmly in her hands. _Steel check. Now flint._ Picking up what appeared to match Bear Gryll's description of a flint stone, Sophie showed it to the man for his approval. "Is this flint?"

Leon was trying to warm himself up when the young girl popped him a question. "Is this flint?" He studied the small, dark stone in the girl's grasp. In truth, he had absolutely no idea. He was an ex-cop and a current D.S.O. agent not some graduated boy scout. Leon was pretty handy in survival tactics, but recognizing flint stone? That was beyond his capabilities. For all he knew, flint stones were supposed to be gray because in one of the shows he watched as a child, _The Flintstones_, the cavemen lived in gray, flint houses. _Why is she asking about flint? What a strange way of breaking the ice if you ask me._

"Sure." Leon finally offered an answer to Sophie.

Sophie couldn't believe that the man who had just managed to professionally shoot a zombie dead on in the head wasn't capable of recognizing flint. _Maybe I'm just expecting too much._

"Hey, where are you going?" Leon called out to the girl when she scurried off into the trees. He lost sight of her and he panicked. Leon was in no shape to fend off any B.O.W.'s regardless of its rank in difficulty to kill if she ran into any that were in the woods. Where there is one t-virus infected, there are others to come. At least in the spot where they were, they could manage to sneak past some wandering zombies if they were quiet enough.

To his relief, Sophie returned safely carrying an arrangement of twigs and dry grass. Leon stared curiously at Sophie arranging the twigs and dried grass on the ground. She held her handgun in one hand and the dark stone in the other. A nasty screech erupted when she rubbed the two materials together. But a few sparks were produced nonetheless.

Leon smirked smugly. The lighter he carried felt very heavy in his pant pocket. He was getting around to starting a fire. Perhaps he was just too slow for the girl.

"Here, this may help." Leon let out a smug chuckle as he held out the small lighter for the girl.

"You had a lighter all this time?"

"Forgot about it."

Sophie stomped within Leon's reach and snatched the lighter from his hand. When a flickering flame finally appeared after some clicks, Sophie bent down to light her arrangement of twigs and grass. Only a few seconds passed, but the fire was glowing steadily.

"You're welcome." Sophie grumbled out to the guy beside her.

"Feisty," Leon chuckled under his breath.

Some time passed as they waited to get warm and dry. It was quiet for a while. Leon looked over to the fourteen year old. She was wearing a knee length puffy coat. It was baggy in many areas so Leon could tell it was obviously not hers. Leon then noticed a small umbrella symbol on the breast of the coat. _Umbrella Corporation. I knew they were behind this._ The rest of her legs from the knee to the ankle was covered in a thin layer of pajama pants. For her feet, she wore little protection. Just a pair of thin slippers that look like the ones they give you at a hospital._ She must be cold._

Leon was about to say something to break the silence, but the girl beat him to it. "Who are you? You're definitely not one of the natives."

"I'm Leon Kennedy, a D.S.O. agent. I've been looking for you, your parents, and Katharina Heidlebann."

"Well, you just killed Katharina Heidlebann. As for my parents…they're still back at that facility."

Leon went silent again. He got one of the four remaining survivors, killed another one, and there's two more in a facility somewhere. _On a roll here._

"Where's this facility?" Leon pressed the girl on.

Sophie cringed at the thought of the facility and her parents. She missed her parents. Her parents had fought for months before their arrival in the Himalayas over the loss of her dad's job. It was a stressful time for the Driscolls but things were looking up recently. This Himalayan trip was to symbolize a fresh start, no more fighting. Sophie had been waiting anxiously for this trip. Now, it's a nightmare she can't wait to wake up from.

"Alright Miss Sophie, we better get a move on before unwanted company finds us." Leon decided to drop his previous question for a later time. "Let's focus on finding some food and shelter. It looks like it'll be nighttime soon."

"Yes sir."

Satisfied with Sophie's short answer, Leon said no more and rose to his feet. Sophie got on her feet too. The warmth, from the fire, quickly abandoned her and the lactic acid, from all the desperate running she did, rushed into her muscles.

"You okay?" Leon shot Sophie a worried glance.

"Yeah, let's go." Sophie offered Leon a small smile, the first in a while.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The first thing that Leon wanted to find was some suitable clothing for Sophie, who was doing her best not to show that she was starting to get frostbite around the skin that was exposed to the cold. He had offered his earmuffs and scarf like the gentleman he was but Sophie had politely rejected saying he needed it more, which was skeptical. The two of them trekked alongside the river, following it downstream, hoping it would lead to some sort of civilization.

"Finally, something other than rocks, shrubbery, and snow." Leon stated when some huts came into view, but it was more to himself than to Sophie. He motioned for Sophie to go hide behind some shrubbery while he investigated if the huts were safe to enter or not. The four huts were of small size, probably could be occupied by a maximum of two people. They perhaps at one point in time served as a resting area for climbers eager to scale Mt. Everest's summit. Now the huts seemed eery and rotten from weather erosion.

Leon approached the closest hut with quiet steps and Winged Shooter raised. He peered inside through the grimy window. No infected and basically nothing else either. Leon moved to the next hut. The window was in even more terrible shape than the first one. It was barely translucent. Having no other choice, Leon opened the door to the hut. He was half-expecting an infected to jump out at him, but nothing did, except maybe the musty smell of the hut's decaying wooden structure. He looked around the small area. There was a twin sized bed in the back of the hut and a fireplace on the adjacent wall. A large wardrobe stood at the foot of the bed and a table surrounded by four chairs stood in the middle. Nothing was useful in his plain sight so he went on over to the wardrobe. To his disappointment there was nothing in the wardrobe either.

_Almost done._ Leon exited the hut. He took a quick glance towards the direction where he sent Sophie to hide and found her easily under some shrubbery. "She must not be very good at hide and seek." Leon chuckled to himself. "But it's okay since zombies aren't that good at seeking."

Sophie hid patiently in her hiding spot and hoped no one found her. Hiding in such sparse vegetation was difficult. The rocks were not nearly large enough to hide someone neither were the trees. She tried her best curling up under a shrub, but bits of her body were still sticking out. _This will have to do._

The last two huts yielded zilch. Leon sighed. How nice would it be to be back in 70 degree weather in the U.S. and be mission-free for a few months? Realizing he was daydreaming again, Leon scolded himself. "Come on Leon, you can treat yourself after this mission is over."

Leon reunited with Sophie. "I think we should spend the night here. It's going to get dark soon. So take your pick." Leon chuckled and motioned to the four shabby huts behind him.

Sophie looked at the D.S.O agent like he grew another head. Noticing Sophie's reaction, Leon let out a hearty laugh, prompting Sophie to give him another weird look.

"Not the jokester are you?"

Still no response.

"Alright, I get it." Leon sighed.

Seeing that Sophie did not want to pick a hut, Leon chose one. The hut with the most useable furniture made the most sense.

"I'm going to find some firewood and maybe something to eat. Be back soon, so behave." Leon tried cracking another joke, but all he got in return was a stiff "yes sir."

"Right…not a jokester."

Leon left with his confidence slightly broken.

Sophie stared at the poor excuse for a bed. Surprisingly, there was still descent bedding albeit just extremely dusty. Being a stickler for hygiene even though her dad was a whisperer of nature, she grabbed the edges of the bed sheet and proceeded to roll the sheet together. Once she finished making a dust roll, Sophie brought the bedding outside despite the chill and darkening skies to release all the dust bunnies. Satisfied with her dust extermination, Sophie mentally patted herself on the back. But that satisfaction didn't exactly last long.

"Didn't I tell you to behave?" Leon coughed and attempted to waft away some the dust that Sophie just released into his face.

"I thought you were joking." Sophie quickly responded.

"Whatever, just get back inside." Leon ushered the girl inside when he couldn't think of anything to match her wittiness.

Despite not having the perfect boy scout skills (as Sophie would've liked), Leon was a very resourceful man. Rather, he had the blessing of a man married to Lady Luck. He could find himself herbs and ammo easily like they've been carefully placed just for him to find. And that's exactly how he found a healthy buck for dinner, meters away from the hut, and a pot eagerly waiting for him to pick it up in the snow couple more meters away.

While the deer cooked and water boiled, Leon glanced over to the fourteen year old on the bed. His heart took a tumble when his eyes caught the bloody bandage wrapped around Sophie's arm. He hadn't noticed she was injured because she had that puffy coat on. With lightning speed, Leon gripped Sophie's arm more tightly than she liked.

"Ow, let go. That hurts."

Leon just had to make sure it was not a bite from an infected. He tore the bloody bandage, anxious. His innards churned. It was as he feared. The worst. It was a nasty wound; dried blood, fresh blood, black bruising and ripped skin. Something bit her. "What is this from? An infected? Or an animal?" Leon lifted his head to meet Sophie's eyes, but she immediately averted her eyes from his. "Answer me, Sophie."

"An infected." She bit out, annoyed when Leon raised his voice at her.

"How long ago was this?"

"I don't know. Probably a few days ago. They kept me holed up without any indication of time."

"Well, if you're telling the truth about how you got that bite a few days ago, then I suppose that's a good thing, because that means you've got the antibodies to fight off the virus. And that could very well be good for the rest of the – "

"It's not a good thing! My parents are waiting for me!" Sophie cried out, yanking her arm away with so much force that Leon thought if he didn't let go he'd pull out her arm from its socket.

"What do you mean they're waiting for you?" There was that churning in his stomach again.

"They turned!"

The rest of the night, Sophie did not talk to Leon. Nor did Leon attempt to talk to Sophie. He figured he'd let the girl have the night to calm down. Moreover, he didn't have anything to comfort her with. They ate their dinner composed of hot water and roasted deer. After that, they each slept separately, far from each other. Sophie took the bed and Leon took a chair near the door.


End file.
